December 4 & 6...MAP Testing

December 5...Band Concert Matinee and Evening Performance

December 12...Choir Concert Matinee and Evening Performance

December 19...Orchestra Concert Matinee and Evening Performance

December 23 - Jan. 1: No Classes - Holiday Break

January 2: Classes Resume

Parent Calendar 2023-2024

Sioux Falls School District Website

Memorial Middle School Website

MMS Events Calendar

Follow us on social media and keep up on all of the amazing things that happen in our school!

FACEBOOK: MemorialMSSF https://www.facebook.com/MemorialMSSF

INSTAGRAM: memorialmssf https://www.instagram.com/memorialmssf/

TWITTER: @memorialmssf https://twitter.com/memorialmssf

As we embrace the holiday season, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible Memorial Middle School community. Your support, from contributing to the Butter Braid Fundraiser and Treat the Halls event to donating to the C.A.R.E. Box project, makes a meaningful difference. Most importantly, your encouragement of your child’s academic growth and well-being is deeply appreciated. These achievements wouldn’t be possible without you. Remember, if you have questions about your child’s academic, social, or emotional needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a teacher, counselor, clerical staff member, or administrator. Together, we’re working toward the success of all our students.

This December, our students will once again participate in the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment, which is given in grades K-8 each fall, winter, and spring. This important tool helps us identify your child’s instructional needs and track their academic progress in reading and math over time. MMS students will take the MAP assessment on Wednesday, December 4, and Friday, December 6. Please help your child be ready for success by ensuring they arrive on time, well-rested, and prepared to give their best effort. After testing, you’ll receive a report outlining your child’s progress.

Regular school attendance is another essential piece of student success. Thank you for your partnership in supporting strong attendance habits. Being in school on time each day helps your child build a foundation for academic achievement and lifelong responsibility. Your efforts in promoting consistent attendance are truly appreciated and play a key role in preparing our students for bright futures.

From all of us at Memorial Middle School, we wish you and your family a joyful and peaceful holiday season.

Parent Portal only allows you to request full day absences now. (Easy access through "Shortcuts" at the bottom of your home page.)

You may still request the full day and leave a note in the comments section if your child is arriving late or being picked up early. We will adjust attendance accordingly.

*** PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE SELECTING THE CORRECT DATE!! ***

You may also contact the school directly.

First choice: SFSDMemorialOffice@k12.sd.us

Second choice: 605-362-2785

Some of the times on student schedules for certain periods in Infinite Campus/Parent Portal are not 100% accurate. Please always refer to the bell schedules below for the times of each period.

*Note: DCM is District Collaboration. We follow that alternate schedule four times a year or once per quarter. Dates: September 27, December 13, February 7, and March 21.

Students in grades K-12 use Canvas as their learning platform. You have the ability, as a parent/guardian, to create your own account and observe your child(ren)'s activity on this platform.

If you created an account last year and paired your account with your child's, there is nothing new/more to do. When school starts, will be able to see your child(ren)'s 24-25 courses.

If you need to create a Canvas parent account and pair your account with your child's Canvas account, please see these DIRECTIONS.

You will need a pairing code for your child...please see this LINK for how your CHILD can generate this code from THEIR canvas account.

• Use infofinderi to see if your address is bus eligible. You can also see your bus information if eligible.
• Click HERE for SFSD busing and boundary information.
• If you are eligible for busing, and have questions on the Stopfinder app, please contact our transportation department. Stopfinder is only for those with an eligible bus route. Again - ONLY contact transportation (Allie) 605.367.7276 for Stopfinder help. For all other bus route information, contact MMS @ 605.362.2785.
• You can always contact School Bus Inc. (SBI) with bus questions or concerns @ 605.334.6644.

For program information and to nominate a teacher visit this LINK.

If you have questions, please ask Grace Muxen or Mrs. Pierson.

The Counselor Connection - December

Counseling Assignments: Kerri Andela: 6th Grade Renee Halde: 7th Grade Alex Dobbs: 8th Grade

Counseling Office Phone #: 362-2789 Website: http://memorialcounseling.weebly.com

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Our Mission: As professional school counselors we help provide an environment in which students can achieve academic, career, and personal/social success. It is our goal and challenge to help students “Become the Best Version of Themselves.”

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Holiday Assistance - Family Needs

As we prepare for the colder months and the holiday season, there are different needs that arise for families. We are very fortunate to have many resources available in our community to help with providing coats, clothing, food, and gifts for families in need. Here is a list of local holiday assistance resources on the 211 Helpline Website: Helpline Center Holiday Guide

Solution-Focused Counseling - Tips for Families

The next time you or your child encounters a problem in life, try this strength based approach to working through the life challenge:

• Imagine how life would be without the problem. What steps can you take to help make this a reality?

• When are times that “the problem” is not such a problem? What is different?

• What strengths do you or your child have that can help cope with or solve the problem?

8th Grade Counseling Lesson - SMART Goals

During the 2nd quarter of the school year, Mr. Dobbs will be teaching a lesson on goal setting in the Social Studies classrooms. Mr. Dobbs will be helping students develop goals using the SMART Framework. You can see what the acronym SMART stands for in the chart below.

S SPECIFIC What will be accomplished? What actions will you take?

M Measurable What data will measure the goal? (How much? How well?)

A Achievable Is the goal doable? Do you have the necessary skills and resources?

R Relevant How does the goal align with broader goals? Why is the result important?

T Time-Bound What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal?

Here is a video describing the SMART Goal Method: video

Second Step (Social Emotional Learning) Program

Here is a summary of the December Second Step Lessons being taught in PRO Time (1st period) & parent/guardian follow-up questions to go with each lesson:

• 6th Grade Lessons

• 7th Grade Lessons

• 8th Grade Lessons

How Students can Report Bullying at Memorial Middle School

• Tell a teacher, principal, or counselor

• Tell your parent and have them report the incident to the school

• Fill out the Student Report Form on the Student/Parent Canvas Page

Questions or Concerns?

If you have any questions or feel there is anything that would be helpful for your son/daughter’s counselor to know, please feel free to contact your child’s assigned school counselor. We are here to help.

Family Forum Series - Virtual Series the Brings Families & Experts Together on Important Topics

Parenting is hard. Growing up is too. The Sioux Falls School District and Avera Health are partnering to strengthen families. Experts from Avera and SFSD will host free VIRTUAL forums once each month. You can find the topics and presentations by opening the following link: Family Forum Series

Attention 8th Grade Families - The following is the “Preparing for High School” Timeline

December 2 Open enrollment application submission begins at 7:30 AM

You can enter your address at the following site to see your son/daughter’s high school home attendance center: https://boundaries.sf.k12.sd.us/livewq/webquery/

December 13th RHS/JHS Activities Fair in the MMS Main Gym for 8th grade (a.m. - 30 min. session)

January Teachers share high school information with 8th grade students during PRO Time

January 30th High School (HS) Counselors present registration information in 8th grade science classrooms and send registration sheets home

Feb. 7th HS Counselors register 8th graders on Infinite Campus from 9-10:55 a.m.

HS Registration Meetings/Tours for Parents/Guardians and 8th Grade Students at JHS/RHS

JHS: Saturday, January 4th 10:00 am to 11:00 am Tuesday, January 7th 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm

RHS: Saturday, January 4th 10:00 am to 11:30 am Tuesday, January 7th 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Dear Memorial 7th and 8th Parents/Guardians,

A reminder that registration for our winter sports are open (Girls Basketball, Boys/Girls Wrestling, Boys Basketball and Performance Dance). If your child is interested in any of these activities and haven't done so already, please register them on our Memorial Bound website. https://www.gobound.com/sd/schools/sfmemorialms. Your child is NOT signed up for a sport unless they have registered through the BOUND site/app.

**All athletes must have BOTH a physical and participation packet on file to participate in athletic activities. The physical is required ONCE throughout their time in middle school. The participation packet is required every year and should have been part of the annual student update you completed on Infinite Campus at the beginning of the year.

Note on Physicals:

• If your child has already completed their middle school physical and it has been submitted, you do not need to upload their physical again.

• If your child has completed a physical but it has not been submitted, you can upload it directly through your registration OR you may send it to the MMS office with your child to turn in there.

• Already have the required documents filled out or completed? Need to bypass the upload document sections? Bound REQUIRES that a document or image be uploaded. If completed, you can simply upload any photo to submit (literally can be a blank photo) to bypass that section to submit the registration.

**Practice for girls' basketball and wrestling begins Nov 4th. Please see our Bound page for practice and game information.

We've received several calls from parents with questions about our athletics programs. Please do not call the MMS office to inquire about Bound or athletic registration as they are not able to answer those questions. To ensure your inquiries are addressed promptly, please direct any further questions to our Athletic Director, Eric Hettinger, at eric.hettinger@k12.sd.us.

* When sending lunch money to school with your student, please tell them to bring it to the office (or lunch money mailbox) first thing in the morning so it can get put in their account by lunch time.

* Please call the SFSD Nutrition Office with any questions or concerns regarding your student's breakfast/lunch account. Unfortunately, MMS does not have access to food accounts.

Log into Infinite Campus as a campus parent to pay online.

CLICK HERE

1. Click the “Fees” tab

2. Click Optional Payments

3. Find the “Club Level” you would like to donate to and click “Add to Cart”

4. Submit payment and checkout

Scan the QR code to make a payment through PayPal.

1. Scan Code

2. Must leave a note in PayPal on what level of membership you’d like.

Check out the new SAM On Demand that started August 12th that spans across the entire city of Sioux Falls. You can get yourself, your family, or even just your kids to any destination (even school) by requesting a ride.

Kids under 18 are FREE. Adults ride for $1.50!

Download the SAM Transit app, call customer service @ 605.367.7151, or visit the online booking portal.

After booking your ride, the app will let you know the following information: pickup location at the nearest corner, estimated time of arrival, vehicle model, and license plate. You can follow the vehicle's progress in real-time. You can also share your ride details with someone.

SAM On Demand

SAM Busing

[Not related to the Sioux Falls School District.] Please contact the City of Sioux Falls | Sioux Area Metro with questions.

Office Hours are 7:30 am to 4:30 pm (Monday - Friday)

After Hours: (605) 362-2792

• Press 1 for attendance
• Press 2 to leave a message

Website: http://www.sf.k12.sd.us/memorial/home
Location: Memorial Middle School, 1401 S Sertoma Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57106, USA
Phone: (605) 362-2785
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MemorialMSSF/
Twitter: @MemorialMSSF